And what does this mean? 

It turns out that Joe Public doesn't go to museums. 
Joe Public goes to Community Colleges... 
...in between jobs and kids and rents and car payments and bill collectors... 
...as s/he tries to better her/his own life options and employability. 

It is clear that many of on this list are the person above. Prior to university I attended a community college (as well lectured at an outstanding one for years.) There are many intellectual, and highly sophisticated (if not economically smart) people going to community colleges and saving thousands in the process. And it was during my time there that we attended many museum exhibitions. Am I missing something with the statement clipped above? because that line to me seems entirely out of line. 


  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Janice Klein 
  To: [log in to unmask] 
  Sent: Friday, April 01, 2005 2:15 PM
  Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] Who goes to Museums anyway?


  I'm going to add my $.02 by suggesting that the best way to get Joe Public (or in our case the Public family) in to museums is to offer a regular wide range of programs.   We do at least two public programs a month (free with museum admission), as well as a monthly Book Club and a twice monthly Saturday Kids Craft Morning (which converts to three weekday mornings during July and August).   We offer a small honorarium for each outside speaker or demonstrator  ($150 flat fee).  The Craft mornings are done by staff and volunteers.  Our state Humanities Council offers "mini-grants" of $2,000 which we have drawn on several times over the last few years to cover the cost of up to 10 programs based on a single theme -- often related to our temporary exhibit (two a year, created in-house).  We also have a Craft Room which has materials for basic crafts (beaded necklaces or key chains, dreamcatchers and gods eyes) are out all the time (funding for this comes from a few small donations from area service organizations, like Kiwanis).

  I'd be interested to hear others opinions on the value of programming vs exhibits/education/entertainment to get the Publics in the door.

  janice

  Janice Klein
  Director, Mitchell Museum of the American Indian
  [log in to unmask]
  www.mitchellmuseum.org

    -----Original Message-----
    From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Diane Peapus
    Sent: Friday, April 01, 2005 12:10 PM
    To: [log in to unmask]
    Subject: Who goes to Museums anyway?... Was: One can get a job



    Claudia wrote: 
    >During my museum â?oehiatusâ?� I worked as a supermarket cashier (we still had to eat), 
    > and I can tell you that I no longer believe museums (many) reach all of the public. 

    You bring up a good point. 

    After leaving the Museum of the Earth, I've been adjunct teaching at a variety of 
    community and non-research 4 year colleges. My degree allowed me to avoid 
    the supermarket check-out and introduce some non-traditional experiential-based 
    museum pedagogy to the classroom. 

    But I've gotten a lesson in "Joe Public" during this work. 

    (Which makes me a far superior candidate for your Dir of Edu position if any 
    of you out there want to hire me!! ;-) ) 

    It turns out that Joe Public doesn't go to museums. 
    Joe Public goes to Community Colleges... 
    ...in between jobs and kids and rents and car payments and bill collectors... 
    ...as s/he tries to better her/his own life options and employability. 

    When I do get back into a museum... I'll certainly have a whole 'nother line of 
    thinking about how to get Joe Public in the doors. 

    have fun 
    diane 
  ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: 
  The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). 

  If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes). 

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).